The present invention relates to a machine for producing packets of cigarettes.
A packet of cigarettes comprises a group of cigarettes, and packaging material folded about the group; and machines for producing packets of cigarettes comprise a number of conveyors, each having a given number of members arranged in series and for manipulating the groups and/or the packaging material and for performing the operations by which the packets are produced. The members of each conveyor also cooperate with those of adjacent conveyors to transfer the groups and/or the packaging materialxe2x80x94unfolded, partly folded, or folded into the form of the packetxe2x80x94from one conveyor to another. The number of members of each conveyor is normally determined on the basis of design parameters, which fail to take into account the adjustments required by the members of each conveyor, and the control methods implemented on the machine itself.
As a result, known machines of the above type for producing packets of cigarettes involve a painstaking setup procedure to adjust each member to cooperate effectively with all the members on the adjacent conveyor, and which must be repeated whenever the size of the packet is changed, thus resulting in prolonged stoppage of the machine.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a machine for producing packets of cigarettes, designed to eliminate the drawbacks of the known state of the art.
According to the present invention, there is provided a machine for producing packets of cigarettes; each packet comprising a group of cigarettes enclosed in packaging material; the machine comprising a number of conveyors, each having a respective number, greater than one, of members which are brought into contact with said groups and/or the packaging material, and cooperate with the members of at least one adjacent conveyor; in particular, said members comprising outlets for the groups, pockets for conveying the groups and/or packets, conveying heads for conveying the packaging material, and folding devices for folding said packaging material; and the machine being characterized in that the number of members of each conveyor is equal to a multiple or to a common divisor of the number of members of an adjacent conveyor.
The present invention also relates to a method of controlling a machine for producing packets of cigarettes.
According to the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a machine, characterized by comprising the steps of extracting a given number of packets from said machine; and determining, for each extracted packet, which members have been brought into contact with the group and with the packaging material used to produce each extracted packet.